Many species of trees in the Amazon rainforests, and animals that depend on them are disappearing more rapidly than previously thought, an international research team reported recently. Led by

Satellite observations suggest vegetation encourages rainfall in Africa. A study led by P M Cox, a scientist with UK's Natural Environment Research Council, says vegetation accounts for around 30 per

Mass-flowering of neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana) is at its climax in the vast tracts of the southern Western Ghats. The little flower with no fragrance blooms once every 12 years. The

A patent on a process for making storage - stable edible food materials from kernels of gorgon nuts or fox nut (Euryale ferox) has tremendous impact on biodiversity resulting in triggered mass culture and commercialization of this aquatic macrophyte. Besides ecological impact, it has social and economic impacts too. This paper studied the impact of the patent on biodiversity at micro level. The study reveals that mass culture of these plants in water bodies instead of fishes has created an interlinked ecological, social and economic imbalance.

This paper considers key issues in plant invasion ecology, where findings published since 1990 have significantly improved our understanding of many aspects of invasions. The review focuses on vascular plants invading natural and semi-natural ecosystems, and on fundamental ecological issues relating to species invasiveness and community invasibility. Three big questions
addressed by the SCOPE programme in the 1980s (which species invade; which habitats are invaded; and how can we manage invasions?) still underpin most work in invasion ecology.

hiv origin: The origin of HIV that causes AIDS has been found in wild chimpanzees living in southern Cameroon, according to an international team of scientists. A virus called SIVcpz (Simian

Bad regulation equals contaminated imports